Clothesline reel



Nov. 3, 1953 R. J. KINGSLEY CLOTHESLINE REEL Filed June 21, 1951INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 3, 1953 Application .Tune 21', 1951-, ,vSerial No.

2' Claims; (Cl. 242-'-l01') This" invention relates to* iinprovements--in clothesl ine reels'up'on which one or more clothes lines may be woundwhen not in use; and from which the clothesline orlines maybe readilyun' wound for use;

of a clothesline' reel embodying this invention showing: the clothes=-line in position for use;

Fig. 2 is 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3-is a transversesectional elevation there'- of-, Fig. 2, Orr-em.enlarged scale. a; fragmentary section" thereof-, on Fig. v3', onastilllarger scale;.

Fig. is a transverse sectional: elevation thereof, on line 55-, Fig; 2.

The clothesline reel is preferablymount'edon or web l5 extendingsubstantially paralle ,to the plate-or, webl4. and spaced: therefrom a,sectional plan view thereofioon" line" The drum 9 may berotatably'mounted on the plates or'webs' I 4 and I5 by shaft l6extending through be readily seen. thettt'he shaft I i-when revolved bymeans of ther'cranle f8: will transmit" rotary motion: to the;windingdrumi bymeans of the plate-onikey and: the shaft? l6: may bemoved :drmnito: a'limited ex are preferbar 26. which maybe-re wall: orother support? 21;

lie-secured total. plate 29 which i-nsturnflis secureeli tow the.3.112013 support 231 the: clothe'slines' are? to be strungbetweenvtwo=walls-of a. room.. 'Iheev ban zfirmay readilybe'disengagedfrom the hooks; 2'8 and. perm-tttedvto move. tovlrarcl the reel so thatthe clotheslines may be wound on the: winding rum. S. Any othermeansmaylee-providedforsuppontingtheouter ends of the: clothes-lines.

will hold the drum 9 against turning in a direction to unwind theclotheslines therefrom. In the construction shown, I have provided thesupporting plate or web [5, which also forms an end wall of the housingof the clothesline reel, with a plurality of ratchet teeth. This may,for example, be done by providing on the wall or plate I5 9, series ofcuts 32 arranged in a circle concentric with the shaft [5. and thenforcing the metal adjacent to one side of each of the cuts outwardly asshown at 33, see particularly Fig; 4. In this manner, there will beformed a series of projections having sloping or inclined sidesterminating at the cuts 32 in abrupt edges. The end wall or web I5,consequently, constitutes a ratchet and this ratchet cooperates with alatch member 35 of any desired shape or form secured to the windingshaft Hi. In the particular construction shown, this ratchet member isin the form of a rectangular plate or bar having a hub portion 36 whichmay be suitably secured to a winding shaft 16. It will, consequently, beseen that when the latch member erative position in close proximity tothe plate or wall 15, the edges of this engage with the abrupt faces ofthe ratchet teeth 33, and thus prevent rotation of the winding shaft inone direction. If the winding shaft is turned in the opposite direction,the latch member will readily ride over ratchet teeth, which faces willnot interfere with the turning of the shaft IS in such direction.

Means are provided for normally urging the latch member 35 intoengagement with the teeth of the ratchet, and in the construction shownfor this purpose, a yielding member, such as a coil spring 38 extendsabout the shaft Hi. This spring at one end thereof bears against thesupporting member or plate H and, if desired, a washer may be interposedbetween this spring and the plate.

The other end of the spring engages the hub portion 36 of the latchmember, thus urging the latch member 35 into engagement with the ratchetmember or end wall 15. However, since the shaft I5 is movable lengthwiseof the winding drum 3, it will be obvious that if pressure is applied tothe outer face of the wheel or disk H, the latch member 35 will moveagainst the action of the spring 38 out of engagement with the teeth ofthe ratchet member,

direction to permit unwinding of the clothesline therefrom.

In the use of the clothesline reel described, when it is desired tounwind the clotheslines from the winding drum, it is merely necessary toapply pressure to the outer face of the wheel or disk IT to move thelatch member 35 out of engagement with the ratchet teeth. Theclotheslines can then be unwound from the winding drum by merely pullingthe same outwardly to the desired extent. After the outer ends of theclotheslines have been secured to a support, for example, when the bar26 has been secured to the hooks 23, the crank l8 may be turned in adirection to wind the clotheslines on the drum 9, during which rotationthe latch member 35 will ride over the inclined faces of the ratchetteeth 33. This may be done without pushing the wheel or disk I! and theshaft inwardly toward the winding drum, in which case the latch member35 will ride over the ratchet teeth. When the clotheslines have beentightened to the desired extent, the ratchet mechanism will preventunwinding of the clotheslines from the winding drum. If desired, theshaft may be turned in the direction for windin latch member will theinclined faces 33 of the whereupon the drum may be turned in a theclotheslines on the drum while pushing the crank l3 toward the drum. inwhich case, the latch member will rotate without contacting the ratchetteeth. When the clotheslines have been wound on the drum to the desiredextent, the crank I8 is released, whereupon the spring 33 will move thelatch into engagement with the ratchet teeth, thus preventing unwindingof the lines from the drum. Consequently, when the desired tension hasbeen applied to the clotheslines, they will be maintained in thisposition by means of the ratchet mechanism.

40 represents a cover of sheet metal or other suitable material whichmay be secured to the base or to the outwardly extending supportingmembers l0, I4 and I5, in any suitable or desired manner. In theconstruction shown, the cover member is provided with flanges 4|, Fig.3, which may be secured by screws or other means to the base 1. Thecover member is provided with suitable holes or apertures 42 throughwhich the clotheslines may pass. When the clotheslines are not needed,the winding drum may be rotated by means of the crank l8 to wind theclotheslines on the winding drum, whereupon the bar 26 will lie againstthe outer surface of the cover member 40 of the reel.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials,and arrangements of parts which have been herein described andillustrated in Order to explain the nature of the invention. may be madeby those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of theinvention, as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: I

1. In a clothesline reel including a winding drum on which a clotheslinemay be wound and a base, that improvement which includes a supportingmember secured to said base and extending outwardly therefrom inposition to rotatably support one end of said drum, a pair of supportingmembers secured to said base and extending outwardly therefrom in spacedrelation to the other end of said drum and spaced apart lengthwise ofeach other, a shaft rotatably mounted in said last mentioned supportingmembers, said drum having an axial bore in the end thereof adjacent tosaid shaft into which said shaft may extend, said drum also having adiametrical slot in said last mentioned end of said drum intersectingsaid bore, a plate secured to said shaft and extending radially withreference to the same and slidable lengthwise of said slot in said drumand forming a driving connection between said shaft and said drum, aratchet mechanism including a stationary ratchet member, a latch securedto said shaft and movable into and out of engagement with said ratchetby movement of said shaft relatively to said drum, said ratchet memberhaving teeth with which said latch cooperates to hold said shaft anddrum from rotating in a direction to unwind said clothesline from saiddrum, a spring normally holding said latch in engagement with saidratchet, said latch being movable out of engagement with said ratchetwhen said shaft is moved toward said drum, to permit rotation of saiddrum for unwinding of a clothesline therefrom.

2. In a clothesline reel having a winding drum on which a clotheslinemay be wound and a base, that improvement which includes a supportingmember secured to said base and extending outwardly therefrom inposition to rotatably support one end of said drum, another supportingmember of U-shaped form having its intermedisaid base and having legsother direction, said shaft when moved toward ding outwardly from saidsaid drum disengaging said latch from said teeth mounted on said legsand to permit unwinding of said clothesline from said of its length to alimited drum.

d formed to engage with 10 tion between said shaft 5 RALPH J. KINGSLEY.

' drum one of said legs References Cited in the file of this patenttending outwardly there- UNITED STATES T N Number Name Date 590,940 AyerSept. 28, 1897 1,415,489 Simpson May 9, 1922 2,080,815 Gasstrom May 18,1937 2,129,582 Johansson Sept. 6, 1938 2,206,174 Falk July 2, 19402,499,123 White Feb. 28, 1950 enable said shaft to ro- 15

